Ro Khanna — the former Obama Administration trade executive and Democratic rising star with a $1.2 million warchest — may be eying a big move: a House race against Democratic South Bay incumbent Mike Honda in 2014.

That would be a 2014 Democrat v. Democrat battle worth watching.

For one thing, it would represent a generational fight — pitting a 71-year-old, longtime political veteran of Japanese ancestry against a 35-year-old emerging leader of the South Asian Indo-American community, which is booming and flexing its muscle in the South bay.

It would be a challenge of a longtime, traditional, respected Democratic labor favorite and party leader against an up and coming Democrat with tech saavy — and big Silicon Valley ties.

And it would be another key example of how California’s “top two” primary and redistricting is shaking things up.

We called Khanna today to ask him about a possible race against Honda. His response: “I’m considering all options and am committed to public service in the future.”

But any race by Khanna against Rep. Mike “Makoto” Honda would be no picnic. The six term Democrat is his party’s senior whip, a member of the powerful House Appropriations and budget community. He’s also hugely respected in the Asian Pacific Islander community as someone with a compelling personal story — as a child, he was imprisoned in a Japanese American internment camp in Colorado.

Still, Honda’s newly redrawn district may be a game changer. His South Bay CD-17 now encompasses Silicon Valley powerhouses like Apple, Yahoo, LinkedIn’s new home, Cisco and a Google campus. Its the kind of manufacturing stronghold — the nation’s second largest behind Wichita, Kansas — that Khanna knows well as a trade expert. And it’s also a strong South Asian base, home to the largest Indo-American community in California.

Politicos such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Jerry Brown, former Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta and Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Anna Eshoo have shown up at past Khanna fundraisers, hosted by influential friends like venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and former Symantec CEO John Thompson.

There was buzz in political circles last year that when the CD-17 was originally redrawn to encompass large parts of Fremont and Milpitas, Honda had explored running in House Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s district next door because that region was a better fit for him, but he was dissuaded from doing so. More buzz: that he could be offered a post in the Obama Administration.

Honda’s response to a possible challenge:“I’m excited to serve the newly drawn CA-17 which just elected me to represent them in Congress, knowing that on multiple fronts – from education to technology to health to immigration to labor to environment and energy – I will champion the diversity of issues as effectively as I’ve always done. As the President lauded today at the inauguration, the innovation and ingenuity of the American people will win the day. That is exactly what Silicon Valley is rich in and what I will continue to represent in Congress if the good people of CA-17 wish it.”